Ever Downward
by Amethystlover02
Summary: A depressed and suicidal Roman Torchwick finds himself in the care of his lawyer, Ruby Rose and her military vet husband, Qrow. Full summary inside!
1. Prologue

_**Summary: **_**_Roman Torchwick has nothing. He lost his job under false circumstances, his only family died, and his wife divorced him all within the span of three months. Coming to the conclusion that nothing in his life is worth living for, he decides to end it. Only to be rescued at the very last minute._**

**_Roman then finds himself in the care of his divorce lawyer, Ruby Rose, and her military vet husband, Qrow. At first, Roman wants nothing to do with the small family. But as time goes on and he finds himself bonding with them and their three year old son, Phoenix, he begins to believe his life is worth living. While Ruby and Qrow find themselves wanting to be the ones to give him the love he deserves. _**

**Prologue**

_How can it be so bright outside without the sun? _

That was one of the thoughts Roman was using to distract himself from his other thoughts. The more painful and even darker ones that refuse to leave him alone. He stares outside his apartment window while laying on his couch, a nearly empty bottle of liquor in his hand. He was surrounded in darkness, but the slider door let in a large amount of light. Several things were scattered about on his coffee table. A laptop with his bank account's recent amount displayed on the screen, an empty bottle of the same alcoholic beverage that was in his hand, his scroll that was going off every other minute now instead of every other hour, endless amount of papers of every kind, and an empty bottle of pills.

Roman Torchwick sighed softly as he felt the affects of the medicine starting to take hold. Ever since the death of his little sister, he found himself unable to fall asleep, so his doctor prescribed him some sleeping pills. He was only to take two, but he had swallowed his entire three months supply. Ninety pills washed down with some Spiced Rose Liquor, his favorite drink. He had read that the medicine he was on worked twice as fast with alcohol. So he made sure to drink as much of it as he had. Just so all the pills would be affected.

It wouldn't be long now.

He could feel his heart slow, the dark living room swirled into one big blur. Soon he'd be with his family again. His mother who had died from cancer when he was ten. His father and stepmother who were killed by a drunk driver while coming home from a date night when he was seventeen. His baby sister, who was six when their parents died, who he raised even though he was little more than a child himself, who he loved more than anything in the world, killed by yet another careless driver that ran a red light. He had missed them all, and was now ready to see them again.

Sure, they might be a little upset at him for ending his own life, but there was just nothing for him in it. Aside from his family being dead, he had lost his job. He had worked at a high quality restaurant, as the main chief, and made over $20 an hour. The reason he was fired? They believed he had stolen from them. Over 1,000 cash was taken out of registers over night, and they blamed him because he was the last one to leave. It was a fair accusation, he assumed. But even though he had proved it wasn't him, they still fired him because they didn't know who else to blame. At least they didn't press charges, but he still hadn't been able to find another job since, and that was three months ago.

Then there was his divorce. Two years ago he had married his girlfriend he had been with since freshman college. Cinder had been an amazing person, smart, funny, beautiful. She seemed like the ideal girl for him. Until about last year, when she met another man. He had been older, then both of them, but was also rich. Very rich. He turned her head faster than Roman could ask what happened. She divorced him even faster. Their papers were finalized two months ago.

Tears slowly started to form in Roman's emerald eyes as he remembered his sister's accident. He had been at a meeting with his divorce lawyer when he had gotten the phone call. It was the hospital saying his sister had been admitted in critical condition. His lawyer had taken him there, but he hardly remembered the drive. When they had arrived, she was in a coma. The doctors told him the chances of her waking up were slim. He barely remembered his lawyer giving him her support. He had stayed at the hospital until the very end. When the doctors told him nothing was changing and he had to make the gut retching decision to pull her off the life support. His sister, his sweet baby sister, the last thing he cared about in his horrible existence, was pronounced dead. That was just this month.

Now he was here.

Using the last of his strength to lift the bottle to his lips, he downed the last swallows of the sweet and spiced liquid. It was the last thing he remembered before his eyes fell shut and he slumped over with a dead weight thud. The now empty bottle fell from his hand to the floor.

Then everything went dark...

**Notes: Welcome to a new story! I'm giving the one shots a break and trying out more lengthy stories. I have recently gotten into the RubyXQrow ship (don't ask how, I have no idea!) which I understand is an uncomfortable ship for many, but it actually helped with the start of this story. I also really like the RomanXQrow ship, so I've decided to put them all together, to see what would happen. And this is the result: this story and creating my newest ship Spiced Rose Liquor. **

**For this story, it will be a modern AU. Qrow isn't Ruby's uncle in anyway and is only ten years older than her rather than twenty or more like in the show. So hopefully that'll make this story readable for some. If not, then don't read. If it does, then as always, enjoy the ride! **

**Updates may be slow, but I do plan to see this through till the end.**


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter I**

"C'mon, c'mon! Pick up the phone. Please pick up the phone, Roman!"

Ruby Rose frantically hit the call button once again on her scroll. This was the thirtieth time at least she had tried this number, and it left her with the same results. No answer.

"Fuck!" Screamed the young woman as she finally gave up, and threw the scroll to the passenger seat of her car. Hands free, she focused all her attention on the road and drove faster to her destination. She was never one to use her scroll while driving; her sister, father, and even husband had drilled into her head never to do so. But she had a sickening feeling deep in her stomach and was desperate. The fact that she received no answers to her frantic calls only amplified it.

The calls had been to her client Roman Torchwick. They had met last year through a mutual friend, who had recommended Ruby to him due to going through a divorce. It was a messy start. They had little information about what his ex was going to demand from him. Roman had practically sold everything he owned to pay for a good lawyer. Only to find out that his ex had wanted nothing from him. The case had taken nearly everything from him, only to find that it had all been for nothing. That, piled with the fact that he had lost his job, and his sister's accident took a huge toll on the man.

Ruby's silver eyes watered as she remembered that dreaded day. They had been at his small apartment going over the finalized divorce papers when he got the call. She had been the one to take him to the hospital. Her husband, who use to serve in the military, went there every month for physical therapy for his leg, so she knew the fastest way to get there. Roman had been silent the whole way, and so had she, for she had no idea what to say. Once they arrived, she dropped him off at the entrance and he ran inside giving her a quick but heartfelt thanks before he did.

Ruby had debated whither or not to follow him and make sure he and his sister were ok. But in the end, decided against it as she felt it was impolite to get involved in her client's personal life. She quickly texted him to let him know she'd gone home, but to let her know if he needed anything to ask. Once done, she'd gone home to her husband and son.

A few weeks later, Roman had texted her a simple text:

**She's gone.**

Ruby whipped the tears that had escaped her eyes as she stopped at the apartment complex Roman lived in. She didn't even turn off the car. She jumped out and ran right to the room of the super and began pounding on the door.

"Alright, alright, alright already!" Hollered an elderly woman's voice, "I'm coming!"

The door then swung open to reveal a small woman with large glasses, Gray hair pulled into a bun, and a blue shaw wrapped around her shoulders. She held a walking cane with a skull at the top.

"Miss Rose?" She asked as she looked up at Ruby, "is that you? What on earth are you doing pounding on my door like some burglar?"

"Miss Calavera," Ruby said, "please I need you to get me into Roman's room."

"Mister Torchwick? Why not just go up there yourself? Why make an old woman escort you?"

"Because I fear he might have...done something...to himself."

"'Done something to himself'? What do you mean?"

"_Please_, just take me to his room!"

Sensing the brokenness in her voice, Miss Calavera asked no more questions and had Ruby follow her to the third floor. It had taken longer than she wanted, but eventually they arrived at Roman's apartment. Using her cane, Miss Calavera knocked on his door.

"Mister Torchwick?" Shouted the old lady, "it's Maria! I've got your lawyer out her worried outta her mind about you! Can you please come out here?"

No answer. Maria knocked again, even longer and harder this time, but again, no answer. Ruby's eyes began to flood with worried tears while Maria, now becoming worried herself, reached for her keys. Once she freed them from her belt, she handed them to Ruby.

"Afraid I can't see worth a damn anymore, Dear," she said, "take these and look for his. It's the one with a cat on it."

Ruby nodded and quickly began a frantic such through the seemingly endless amount of keys. Eventually she found a tarnished silver one with a faded picture of a black cat on its top. With it, she unlocked the door. Opening it, the two women quickly found that the chain lock had been drawn, keeping them from opening the door all the way and getting inside. Ruby could only peek through the ajar door but she could clearly see the top of Roman's red hair...as well as an empty bottle of some prescription drug.

"Oh my Oum!" She screamed, covering her mouth as she started pushing on the door the break her way in.

"What is it?" Asked Maria frantically, "what do you see?"

"Call an ambulance! Quickly!" Ruby shouted as she continued to push against the not budging door. Maria quickly ran down the hallway. Shouting all the way.

"Mister Callows! Come quickly! Bring your scroll!"

Ruby was fully sobbing now. Her shoulder hurt, and she slowly gave up on trying to break open the door. She had to get into the room. Just had to! Roman was dying. He was ending his own life, just giving up. She had to bring him back, before it was too late.

So in her own little world, she didn't hear rapid approaching footsteps. But she felt arms around her as she was dragged away from the door.

"No, nononono!" She cried, "please, I have to get in!"

"Shh," a new voice said, "I know, Hon, I'll get you in. Don't worry. But you have to move away." As Ruby was placed against the wall, she saw Maria was already talking into a scroll. She then looked up at the man who had come with Maria. He was tall, with long braided brown hair and pale skin. He was dressed in nothing but sweat pants, so Ruby could easily see the scars that decorated his back and front. Before she could say anything else, the man raised his foot and with a hard swing, kicked the door open. Ruby didn't even flinched at the loud noise and followed the man ran into the room.

Roman hadn't even moved. The man quickly shoved the coffee table out of the way and grabbed Roman from the couch. He placed him on the floor and checked for a pulse. The frantic start of him preforming CPR told Ruby he didn't feel one. She felt her legs become wobbly so she slowly fell to the ground. A hand came to rest on her shoulder, but she didn't take her eyes off of the scene before her.

"An ambulance is on the way," Ruby heard Maria say, "Mister Callows is a nurse, he'll be able to get Mister Torchwick stable while we wait." Ruby only nodded her head.

"Got a pulse," said the man, Mr. Callows, as he continued to try and revive her client. "Come on, Torchy, stay with us."

After what seemed like hours to Ruby but was really only a minute, the paramedics arrived. They rolled in a stretcher and Mr. Callows helped them get Roman onto it. She heard him say that he had a pulse and was able to keep it, but not able to strengthen it. They nodded and rolled Roman out of the room and down the hall.

"Go with them, Deary," Maria said, "they said you are more than welcome to. Mister Callows and I will follow. No doubt he'll be called into the hospital for this anyways."

As if on cue, the scroll in her hand started ringing. Maria handed it to Mr. Callows who answered it with a "I'm on my way." Ruby nodded and ran after the paramedics. She road in the ambulance and watched as they hooked Roman up to a few things. They were able to strengthen his pulse, but he never opened his eyes. The ride was a blur as Ruby kept her eyes on Roman, hoping he would pull through. She knew he probably didn't want to, and that only made her worry even more.

Once at the hospital, they were met by a doctor, and two nurses. Ruby had been unable to answer their questions, so the paramedics did. They all ran down a hall, with Ruby following them till they reached the point were she couldn't.

"Please wait in the waiting room, Ma'am," the doctor had said, "we will do all that we can and will let you know how he is the second we know."

With that, Ruby numbly went to the waiting room. She found Roman's super waiting there as well, and immediately took a seat by her. They didn't say anything for a long time. Finally the old lady put her hand on Ruby's wrist.

"He's going to be fine, Dear," she said, "he'll pull through."

"Then what?" Ruby asked, "he wanted to die, Miss Calavera. If he pulls through this mess, what's to stop him from jumping into another one?"

Maria was silent for a long while, before finally responding.

"We'll figure something out."

It was hours later before the doctor from before came towards them along with Mr Callows. Maria had fallen asleep while Ruby sat up from her slouched sitting and ran to them.

"How...is he?" She asked slowly preparing for the worst.

"He's fine," replied the doctor. "We were able to get the medicine flushed from his system before any further damage was caused. He will make a full recovery physically."

Ruby sighed in relief. He was alive.

"Mentally how ever, is another story," the doctor continued. Ruby nodded in understanding. Only part of the battle was over. Now comes the hard; convincing Roman that life was worth living. How was that going to be done?

"May I see him now?" She asked.

"Of course, Hon," answered Mr. Callows. "He's in the recovery room, room 1045. But he's still unconscious."

Ruby nodded in thanks and headed towards the direction pointed to her. She may not know right now what could be done to help Roman, but at least she had some time to think about it.

**Notes: So, I'm not great at medical stuff, so writing this was a bit tricky. But I hope it at least made sense. I made Tyrian Callows the helpful neighbor because he's one of my favorite characters. I also thought Maria's character would be perfect for the kind of land lady I had in mind. **

**If it seems Ruby cares too much about Roman dying, it's not due to the fact that she loves him yet. Like in the show, she had lost her mother tragically and**** doesn't wanna relive that moment. **

**

We'll be meeting Qrow in the next chapter, so stay tuned! 

**


	3. Chapter 2

**Notes: So remember how I said Qrow isn't Ruby's uncle in anyway? Well, he still isn't, but he _is_ Yang's uncle. I didn't intend to make him, but I didn't know how else to introduce him into the family, so he's Raven's younger brother rather than twin. But they weren't raised with him as their uncle. In fact, they didn't meet him till they were in their teens. So hopefully that's ok? If not, then sorry, but it works too good for me to change it. **

**Chapter II**

Qrow really hated hospitals. Everything about them from the smells of illnesses and chemicals, to the sounds made by machines, to the annoying people that worked there. The whole place absolutely irritated him. But he had to keep coming back, if he ever wanted his leg to work properly again.

The raven haired man sighed as he gathered up his things and prepared to leave the physical therapy room. He had been coming to this dreaded place for the past six months since he had broken his ankle in the line of duty last year. Over six years of service in the military, he had countless close encounters with death. He had been shot at, almost blown up, nearly drowned, strangled, and experienced heat stroke. And what caused his discharge? A broken ankle, which he got by walking down disproportioned steps.

He would have laughed if he hadn't have been so pissed.

As he was headed towards the exit, A small body bumped into Qrow. Or rather crashed into him.

"Fuck! I'm so sorr-Qrow?"

Qrow recognized the voice immediately and looked down at the small person with a warm smile.

"Ruby," he said in greeting. The young woman had been his wife of almost five years now. They had met through her sister Yang, who introduced him to Ruby as her uncle through her mother. Yang's mother Raven had been married to their dad Taiyang in the very beginning, only to abandon them shortly after Yang was born. Tai soon married his nanny Summer Rose, who was more of a mother to Yang than Raven ever was. The two then had Ruby a few years later. When the girls were in their teens, Qrow, who was Raven's little brother, entered their lives. At first, Tai was wary of him, but after getting to know him, they all realized Qrow had been hurt by Raven just as much as they had. He only wanted to be apart of their family since he had such a shity one.

Of course, Ruby didn't expect to fall in love with the older man, nor him with her. Tai certainly wasn't thrilled with the idea of his youngest daughter dating the uncle of his older daughter. But then he saw how much they loved each other and how Ruby had caused Qrow to change from a loner to a family man. Plus, Summer constancy insisting they be together cause they made each other happy. That made Tai change his mind.

Not long after that Qrow and Ruby became Mr. and Mrs. Rose. Qrow happily taking his wife's last name due to the not wanting her to take his tarnished surname: Branwen.

Looking down at Ruby, Qrow's smile quickly fell upon seeing her face. Her silver eyes were filled with tears. Went lines ran down her cheeks for previous tears with only more continuing to fall. Before he could ask, she quickly walked around him and towards what Qrow recognized as the recovery rooms.

"Baby? What's wrong? What happened?" He asked as he followed his wife.

Ruby didn't answer. She just kept on walking and looking over the room numbers as she passed them. Qrow picked up on what she was doing and followed as close behind as his ankle would let him.

"What room, Babe?"

"1045," Ruby answered.

Qrow nodded his head as he helped the search for the room. Before long, they found it.

"Right here, Babe," Qrow said as they came upon it. Ruby nodded and headed inside with Qrow behind her. Upon seeing the occupant, Qrow's red eyes widen.

Roman Torchwick. His wife's divorce case client. What the hell had happened? Ruby said she had wanted to meet with him one last time to check up on how he was doing. She had been worried about him for a while now.

"What happened to him?" Qrow asked softly, wrapping an arm around his wife's shoulder. Ruby let out one sob before answering.

"H-h-he t-tried to k-kill himself, Hon." Came the choked reply. Qrow's eyes widen even more, before wandering over the motionless form in the recovery bed with sorrow.

"I had such a sick feeling in my stomach about him. Ever since he told me his sister died. It got worse today when I tried to call him...and got no answer." Sobs trailed of the rest of her words as she buried her face in her husband's shoulder. Qrow only held her tighter, not knowing what to say. His eyes however remained on Roman. The red head was hooked up to an IV, an oxygen mask, and heart monitors. He looked very sickly pale with bags under his eyes like this was the most sleep he had gotten in a long time. His expression even seemed pain in his unconscious state. A few minutes ticked by before Mr. Callows entered the room.

"Mrs. Rose?" He asked softly.

Ruby's head shot up and she turned to face the nurse.

"Mr. Callows," she said in greeting.

"Oh, just call me Tyrian Hon," the man said with a small smile. He was dressed in deep purple scrubs with a white cap on his head. Ruby remembered he had long hair, so how he managed to get it all in the small cap was beyond her. "We haven't officially met, so I never got a chance to introduce myself." The man held out his hand to shake, which Ruby returned wholeheartedly.

"Ruby Rose," she said, "and this is my husband, Qrow."

"How's it goin'?" Qrow said as he took the man's hand as well.

"Well, wish I could say it's going fine," said Tyrian, "but I've definitely had better days."

He then turned his attention towards Roman.

"Being woken up by your land lady shouting that one of your neighbors is attempting suicide is not how anyone wants to start their day."

"Thank you so much for getting us into his room and saving him," said Ruby. Tyrian only chuckled.

"_You_ saved him, Little Flower," he said, "I only helped."

Ruby was taken back by that statement. Thinking about it, she realized he had been right, but she was still grateful towards him.

"So what's gonna happen now?" Qrow asked. Tyrian sighed.

"He's currently in a coma, I'm afraid. Which he should wake up from," he added quickly upon seeing Ruby's falling face. "The medicine he over dosed on wasn't highly dangerous and we were able to pump it out of him. He actually took it with a large amount of alcohol, which caused most of the drugs to dissolve before they could fully affect him. Must have thought it'd help them work more." Tyrian walked over to the monitors, checking their signals and nodding.

"Everything is going fine," he said, "we just have to wait now."

"What about when he wakes up?" Ruby asked softly, "what if he...tries again?" Tyrian's golden eyes became somber.

"Well, he could be placed in a halfway house," he said, "but they're currently all booked full. And we can only house him for a day after he wakes up. So I don't know."

Ruby and Qrow looked at one another, before turning to look at Roman. It was obvious that they were gonna have no choice but to let Roman go after this, and the couple really didn't like that idea. Finally after one last shared look, clearly thinking the same idea, they turned back to the nurse.

"We'll take him," Ruby said, Qrow nodding in agreement. Tyrian looked at the in surprise.

"What?" He asked, not sure he heard right.

"We'll take him," Ruby repeated. "He can stay with us and we'll watch over him and help him through this."

"Are you sure?"

"Absolutely."

Tyrian thought about it for a moment before nodding.

"Ok, let me just go and talk to Dr Ozpin first," he said as he headed to the door. "It'll be up to him officially. Oh! One more thing!"

The man quickly walked back towards the couple while fishing something out of his pockets.

"As Maria and I were leaving the apartment I happened to notice your car was still running."

He pulled out a set of car keys and handed them to Ruby who blushed upon remembering that she had forgotten her car. Tyrian winked and headed out the door, leaving the couple alone once again with Roman.

**Next chapter: A look with Roman in the afterlife! Stay tuned! **


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter III**

Emerald eyes slowly opened and began to focus, slowly taking in what was suppose to be the afterlife. No pearly gates, no clouds, no light, but most importantly no waiting family. In fact, it looked like he was still in his apartment. Roman groaned in annoyance. Had he survived? The drugs just simply putting him into a deep sleep and not actually killing him?Looking around, Roman found that his coffee table was cleared of the stuff it had been covered with. He bit his lip in thought. Maybe...he had dreamt it all? Perhaps he had fallen asleep while watching TV and had only dreamt he killed himself?

Roman sighed and rubbed his eyes, not knowing what to believe. All he knew was that he was still alive. Getting up from his couch, Roman was about to head to his bathroom to ready for bed when he noticed something about his front door. Or rather...the absence of his front door. He over looked the wall where the door was suppose to be. Upon further inspection he found that the door was still there, but it appeared to have some sort of coverage over it. He raised his hand to it...only to feel a warm soft and slimy surface.

It almost felt like...flesh.

Roman jerked his hand back, quickly wiping it on his pants. Looking around his apartment did he only now realizing how it had changed. The walls were covered in dirt and red...blood? All the wooden furniture was chipping and rotting away while the cloth parts were ripped and stained. More blood? The carpet was hard and crunchy with the same substance that was all over the walls. The TV was on showing nothing but static with no sound. The pictures that hung on the walls and displayed on shelves looked like they had water damage. The whole apartment looking like something out of a nightmare.

Or maybe...even Hell...

Roman covered his mouth before a sob could escape. So many questions ran through his mind. Had he done it? Killed himself and was now in Hell? Or was this some sort of nightmare? All his stress and anxiety finally taking a toll on him? He slowly slid down to the floor, emerald eyes staring off into nothing. His head started to pound, just now taking note of how heavy the air was. He ran his hands over his face and messaged his temples.

_Whe...id...yu...g-_

_You...tu..rn..ed..the...lig...hts out_

_Sh..t...the door..n..yur...wn..fa..e_

Roman's head snapped up. What the hell was that?

_Oly..yu-knw-_

_Ater...minight..._

_Strs..re...crshig...into...plce..._

Was that...music?

_For-he fst..t-e, in a lg..ime_

_The...ngt..is...-tal...clr_

_Bt...-alls,...he...-alt,_

_...s...you...yr...trs..._

It _was_ music. Staticy and hardly understandable. But where was it coming from? Slowly getting to his feet, Roman walked around the hellish place to try and find where it was coming from. The static had got worse and he couldn't make out any of the words, but was still able to hear the piano music through it. It lead him down the hall and towards a new door just at the end. Rather than it being a traditional wooden door like the rest of the ones in the apartment, this one was an iron bar door with additional caging behind it. Rust covered the metal bars just like the rest of the apartment. But the music was much more audible. Peeking through the small holes, he could just make out a stair case that led downwards with a small platform before it. Sitting on a stool next to the staircase was a small handheld radio...the source of the music.

Roman tried the handle of the door, only to find it locked. Biting his lip, he looked around the nightmare apartment for any thing he could use to pry it open. His search didn't last too long, and he turned up with nothing to use. He growled in frustration and pain at the throbbing that continued in his head. He really needed to get out of this place! The air was so thick and heavy! He didn't know how much more he could take of it.

That's when his eyes landed back to the flesh covered exit. Only this time, there appeared to be something on the floor underneath it. Roman's eyes narrowed in confusion. Had that been there before? He quickly walked over and bent down to inspect the item. It was a red envelope. Hesitating only a second, he picked it up from the floor and looked it over. There wasn't anything written on it, but he could feel the outline of something inside. He flipped it open and pulled out a small key. His emerald eyes widen slightly. A small tag with two simple words was attached to it. He looked at the words.

Ever Downward

Roman looked back at the bar door and quickly walked to it, key in hand. He slipped it into the lock of the door without any trouble and turned it. He heard a soft click and turned the handle. The door swung open with a groan and a gust of cold air met him in the face. He sighed with relief as the throbbing caused by the thick room was chased away. He quickly walked through the doorway and towards the staircase. The radio was louder now and still trying to play its song. Not a fan of static, Roman bent down to the radio and began to fiddle with it. It didn't take him long before the radio was tuned to the proper station and was playing the song perfectly.

_Cross my heart and hope to save a life_

_Let me in the shadows of your closing eyes_

_Visions getting stained_

_Clouded by the pain_

_Addicted to escape but she can't see that_

_Everyone's insane_

_I see it every day_

_Watch them wash away... their blood filled tears_

The lyrics echoed through the stairwell along with the piano music playing with it. The song seemed sorrowful but oddly calming, so Roman picked up the radio before heading down the stairs. He wasn't too sure what was down there, but anything was better than staying in that nightmare room. As he walked the song added a base to it as it continued.

_Can you hear it, come in closer_

_Press your ear against my heart_

_If you scream "will they hear you"!?_

_If you've written off their part_

_Undercover, darkness wanders_

_As you say your last goodbye_

_Without a whisper, "who could listen"?_

_Silence was your loudest cry_

The stairs weren't as long as they appeared, and Roman found himself at the end before long. A simple door was what greeted him. His eyes narrowed in thought. The door looked very familiar, but he couldn't figure out why. It looked like the door to a closet, and was a dark oak wood, with normal designs. With nothing else to do, he opened the door...

...and found himself in a kid's bedroom. A very familiar kids bedroom...

Roman's eye widen in surprise. This was his bedroom! Or well, was his bedroom. Back when his was a kid. He slowly stepped inside the room, mind reeling with a million more questions. Why was he here? What was going on? What was the point to this? Walking through the room, he took a moment to examine his old room before heading towards the exit. His old house was a large, two story house that was over a hundred years old, according to his father. Everything had been up kept well and anything that couldn't be maintained was renovated with the best materials and the best work. Roman smiled as he took in everything around him. But upon reaching a certain door, the smile vanished.

It was a door at the end of the hall. It had use to be a guest room but had been refurbished as something else...his mother's sick bedroom. The color slowly drained from Roman's face as he found himself walking towards the door without really wanting to. The song on the radio now sounding more sorrowful than before. The door opened on its own and showed Roman a sight that had long haunted his dreams ever since he was a kid.

His mother, his beautiful loving mother who was always so full of life, lay on the full bed. The cancer had changed her drastically and horrifically. Her long red hair was gone, her fair skin became a sickly pale, her muscular figure from years of sports gone within a few months. Leaving behind a skeleton like form. Dark circles hung under her closed eyes. She was barely breathing, the rising and falling of her chest slowing with each breath.

Tears filled Roman's eyes.

"Mom?" He called out softly. No answer came.

"M-m-momma?" Nothing.

He soon found himself before her form, sobbing fully and dropping himself over her.

"Momma! Please...please come back to me! Please come to me! I want to see you! Please! Please! PLEASE!"

_Cross my heart and hope to save a life_

_Let me in the shadows of your closing eyes_

_Visions getting stained_

_Clouded by the pain_

_Addicted to escape but she can't see that_

_Everyone's insane_

_I see it every day_

_Watch them wash away... their blood filled tears_

_Now you've left me shattered on the ground,_

_Can't pick up the pieces if you're not around_

_Cross my heart and hope to save a life_

_Let me in the shadows of your closing eyes_

_Visions getting stained_

_Clouded by the pain_

_Addicted to escape but she can't see that_

_Everyone's insane_

_I see it every day_

_Watch them wash away... their blood filled tears_

The song ended after that. The radio went silent after that. No new song or even static. Only the sound of Roman's sobbing could be heard. So when a voice suddenly called out his name, he jumped slightly.

"Roman," came a deep woman's voice.

Roman looked up from his mother and turned behind him. There standing in the doorway, was a beautiful woman. Long wavy blonde hair, bright blue eyes, dressed in a sheer white gown. She looked like an angel. Whipping his eyes, Roman slowly got up and walked towards her.

"Who are you?"

"Salem."

"Why are you here?"

"I am here to warn you, about the shadows of your past."

"What does that mean?"

"It is the fate of all who take their own lives. Ending your suffering only brings more suffering. You have only a taste of what awaits you." She nodded to his mother's form before continuing. "If you remain here you will relive your sorrows over again and again for all eternity. To avoid this, you must return to the land of the living."

"But..I don't have anything to live for!" Roman shouted. "I lost everything! My life isn't worth living, Salem!" Her eyes soften as she walked forward and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"You are wrong, Roman Torchwick. You life is worth living. Everyone's is, you just have to make it worth living." Roman scoffed and shook his head, only to have Salem grab his face and make him look at her.

"You will have a happy life, Roman," she assured him with a serious expression. "And once it's fulfilled, you will see your deceased loved ones in enteral rest. Or you can remain here in sorrow, never crossing over to the other side."

Roman shivered at the thought of remaining here. He had loved this place, but it held too many painful memories. He could feel all the dread in the air. With a heavy sigh, he faced the woman once again.

"Ok," he said softly, "I'll go back. But I sure hope you're right." Salem only smiled. It was here that Roman noticed that the room was becoming brighter. So bright it wasn't long before he couldn't make it out. The white light engulfed the room, then Salem, until...

...He opened his eye...

**Notes: So, I had debated the idea of putting this scene in here. I was honestly afraid it would be too much. But it one one of the first scenes I came up with when I came up with the story and also explains why it's called Ever Downward. A lot of inspiration comes from Silent Hill 4 and The Cat Lady. The song being the main theme from the game Lorelai. **

**Roman isn't in Hell, but is stuck in a limbo of reliving his painful memories. This was just a ploy by Salem (an angel of death or whatever you wanna call her) to convince him to live his full life. **

**Thanx to all those who fav and follow!**

**GrimmoftheQueen: So happy you love this so far! **

**Dragoness of the Moon: Glad to have peeked you curiousity and hope you like were this story goes! **

**Cipher111994: Same to you! As for why Qrow and Ruby...I honestly don't have an answer, other than I have a thing for crack ships. I looked this pairing up outta curiosity and just loved some of the stories I found. I do understand it's an uncomfortable ship for many as I have said, so if you wanna bail now, I'll understand. **

**I'll have the next chapter up whenever. Though this is going faster than I thought it would, so fingers crossed it stays that way!**


End file.
